Land Tenure Issues Remain Serious

Secure tenure : Is a policy coming?

In a speech in Banda Aceh two weeks ago,
Paul Wolfowitz (President of the World Bank) commended the progress of reconstruction
but also highlighted a particular gap :
BRR has not yet approved a land policy.
Indeed, secure tenure for erstwhile displaced people will need to be a key outcome for the reconstruction.

For many people, tenure security will be achieved simply : they are rebuilding on their own land. Their land ownership will also be formally certified. Indeed, the World Bank / MDF programme RALAS is providing land owners within all affected and adjacent areas with land titles, free of certification cost.

Yet certification secures assets, not tenure. For non-landowning households,
or for households who have no access to their land, there is little formal help available. On-the-ground housing programmes only sporadically assist them. The main options are either to buy land or to wait-and-see while staying in temporary accommodations.

Policy development has been on-going since mid last year. Resettlement so far has been approached as an urgent. Local authorities have acquited relocation sites, for better or worse – notwithstanding the fact that the demand for outright resettlement is unclear at least. But still missing is an overarching longer run policy allowing people to obtain tenure in places where their well-being and livelihoods are sufficient secure as well.

One in Three Affected Households is facing insecure tenure.

The absence of a clear Land Policy won't stop the reconstruction of housing units this year. More than 20,000 units still need to be started on free and clear land. 600 ha of land acquired by the local authorities can accommodate another 15,000 units. Yet many households face insecure tenure. The following estimates are derived from the UN-Habitat – Unsyiah monitoring programme :

Figure 1 – source : UN-Habitat – Unsyiah Monitoring of Permanent Housing
and Settlement Reconstruction. Extrapolation based on a sample of 73 locations
in 4 districts (see figure 2). Resettlement projects have been excluded.
“Landowners” are meant here only those who have land which is presently
not suitable for reconstruction.

Download Data and Notes on Extrapolation (, 26KB)

Draft guidelines and regulations in circulation.

Since last year, a number of draft guidelines and regulations have been prepared :

•  A Draft Presidential Decree proposing to make land available to people who lost residential land permanently to the sea.

•  A Regulation issued by the Governor of NAD allowing local authorities, supported by the Provincial Government, to acquire land for the purpose of relocation.

•  A Draft Guideline for Resettlement and Renters issues, prepared by BRR in collaboration with UNDP, UN-Habitat, Oxfam and AIPRD. [1]

•  A Draft Regulation prepared by the Housing Deputy, setting out principles for resettlement and quasi-cash assistance programme for renters. [2]

•  A Draft Regulation prepared by BRR to streamline the acquisition procedures for local authorities in case BRR funding is involved. [3]

The focus of the Government so far has been on making resettlement land available for reconstruction. The main actors have been the local authorities. The BRR Housing Implementation Department wants to provide funding to other actors as well : community groups, contractors and developers. There are no final rules yet, for instance with regard to the extent of financing to be provided by BRR and whether land owners have to co-finance the acquisition.

At present, only the Regulation of the Province is effective and has resulted in the local authorities acquiring close to 600 ha of land, at times with financial assistance of BRR.

Meanwhile, BRR and UNDP, with MDF funding, have started a programme on relocation and resettlement issues, with field staff being deployed in regional offices, in 14 districts. The key issue is to create transparency on land values and land transaction processes for relocation purposes. [4]

In some cases, NGOs and local authorities have worked together in making resettlement happen in a way that local communities are involved and informed. Organisations working on resettlement programmes are Care, Yayasan Buddha Tzu-Chi and Oxfam. CIDA provides technical assistance to BRR. [5]

Issues Ahead : short-term fixes or longer run adjustment programmes ?

There are several questions to be addressed :

A hint from the Peace Process.

It is indeed interesting to note that, within the context of Re-Integration, the Government has come to realize that harsh divides do not always provide practical outcomes. GAM combatants were supposed to register in order to receive assistance, yet registering individual identities for future entitlements is always an awkward proposition in post-conflict situations . The pragmatic solution of BRA is now to have community groups to make proposals to distribute assistance.

Perhaps BRR can follow course with regard to assistance to landless people. Rather than to stigmatize them, BRR could ask local groups to work out a variety of socially acceptable outcomes.

Download :

1. BRR Draft Resettlement Guideline - [English - Bahasa](, 177 KB)

2. Resettlement Assistance - Bahasa (, 241 KB)

3. BRR Land Provision Legal - Bahasa (, 259 KB)

4. Oxfam Case study (, 107 KB)

5. UNDP Project Document (, 177 KB)

Government

Aceh Province

Pidie - Monthly Situation Report  (UNORC)

Pidie district is somewhat different with other tsunami affected districts. In this district, the local government has played significant and reliable roles on coordinating the humanitarian/recovery operation. The Joint Secretariat (chaired by Bappeda Staff) has been established during the earlier stage of recovery and fully supported by the district authorities, including the Bupati and Vice Bupati and also by UNDP in term of secretariat equipments.

Download : UNORC-Monthly Situation Report Pidie (, 687KB)

Spotlight: Yayasan Budha Tzu Chi

Tzu Chi Great Love Village

Tzu Chi's Indonesia branch has helped local residents with recovery efforts since the tsunami struck. In order to provide permanent housing for those left homeless, Tzu Chi volunteers searched high and low to find land to build a Great Love Village. After searching for several months, they found a location in Neuhen Village in Mesjid Raya County, 14 kilometers east of Aceh. After securing a location, Tzu Chi volunteers in Medan immediately began surveying the land.
The Great Love Village provide more than housing for its residents.

More.........

Tzu Chi Great Love Village in Aceh (, 1.2MB)


UN-HABITAT

UN-HABITAT's Land and Tenure Section, formerly known as the Land Management Programme, was established in May 1999, under the Shelter Branch. It is the agency's focal point for land management and tenure systems, policies and legislation that help achieve adequate shelter, security of tenure and equal access to economic resources for all, with a specific focus on gender equality. The main focus areas and mandate are:

• Implementation of land, housing and property rights, particularly women's secure tenure
  
• Affordable land management systems and pro-poor flexible tenure types

More information.......

UN-Habitat Project Office
Jl. T.M Pahlawan No. 3A Banda Aceh  NAD, Indonesia
Telp: +62 651 741 2525 / Fax: +62 651 25258
http://unhabitat-indonesia.org

UN-HABITAT - Fukuoka, Japan
http://www.fukuoka.unhabitat.org

Housing & Settlements Information@UNIMS
Visit the housing page at the UNIMS website for contact addresses and archives of policy documents, data, meeting notes, reports and other sector informations.


Housing & Library@UN-Habitat Banda Aceh
UN-Habitat (Banda Aceh) collects documents on housing reconstruction.
Visit our catalogue.If you can contribute your documents,
please contact Yayan at yayan@unhabitat-indonesia.org

For subscribe, please send email to :
diella@unhabitat-indonesia.org